The Junior Achievement company, Soup’R Snacks, from the Entrepreneurship class at the Weyburn Comprehensive School won two top awards for this year, including as Company of the Year and Product Design Awards.
Teacher Margot Arnold advised that this means the company will advance on to compete for the Virtual National/International Company of Year, representing Saskatchewan.
In a message to her students, Arnold said, “I’m so proud of all your hard work, time, effort, commitment and dedication.”
She also thanked the people of the community who supported the company by buying their products and supporting their son or daughter in working to achieve this accomplishment.
The company raised $887 for the Canadian Mental Health Association, Weyburn Branch. In addition, the team created a gift basket raffle that promoted Mental Health Awareness, and as a result they won first prize in the YouthBiz Business contest, earning $500 which was donated to the Walbaum family in support of Cooper. They also took part in the “Operation Christmas Child” campaign with a gift box.
Soup’R Snacks was a retail food company sold pre-packaged soups mixes ready for preparation and ready to eat snack mixes.
Their soups came in three different flavors: Hearty Chicken Noodle, Creamy Potato Bacon, and Classic Tomato and packaged in 250ml mason jars. The snack mixes came in three different kinds: Holiday Mix, Sweet and Salty, and Puppy Chow and were available in 16 oz. and 32 oz. containers.
In the writeup provided by the company to the yearbook, they described their process and rationale for how they operated:
“The delicious and high quality delights were produced by the Production team, but everyone worked together to make sure everything was the best it could be. We strived to create high-quality products, by working efficiently and effectively, and being creative as well. Our production team was well organized, and our marketing team innovated new ideas and ways to promote our company to the public in terms of re-envisioning the way we used social media.
“Our company production was split into two processes, in class was more for labeling and other organizational tasks while we spent three to four hours after school creating the soup and snack mixes. This was necessary because a lot of time and effort was needed to create our soups and snack mixes. It was also a challenge to find an available cooking space during class hours so we could create the snack mix.
The company was comprised of Aiden Krafchuk, Jackson Shauf, Nathan Elmy, Kaitlyn Kruger, Amiel Verdejo, Sarah Braat, Andrew Brown, Kendry Klassen, Kyle Barrett, Kylie Van De Woestyne, Piper Abel, Ally Kosteniuk, Paris Lyon, Hannah Soroka, Angelina Addo, Jordan Schlosser, Faith Bratrud, Maggie Grams, Isaak Redwood, Rylan King, Avery Dewtie, Hanna Hulbert, Elise Colbow, Jacey Rowland, Trey Sandiford, Madison Lafoy, Onello Bahingawan, Megan Ebel and Olya Vilcu.
The company was mentored by Verna O’Neill, executive director of Community Futures Sunrise; Twila Walkeden, executive director of the Weyburn Chamber of Commerce; and Jeff Chessall, owner-manager of New Age Electronics. The major sponsor the company this year was Crescent Point Energy.
There will be individual awards announced for members of the company, and these will be part of the Grade 12 academic awards, to be presented virtually on Wednesday, June 17 at 7 p.m.
